Is there a time for kohl and lipstick?
A time for curling hair?
Is there a time for high street shopping?
To find the right dress to wear
Here she comes/ Heads turn around
Here she comes/ To take her crown…
Is there a time to turn to Mecca?
Is there time to be a beauty queen?
–'Miss Sarajevo', written by Bono and Brian Eno

When Christiane Amanpour was stationed in Sarajevo by CNN to report on the Bosnian War in the 1990s, she recalls women rushing to beauty parlours the minute the electricity or water supplies were temporarily restored. "The parlours would open all over town and women would line up to get their hair done or re-dyed… looking good was their form of resistance to the horror that was being inflicted. That is a very strong memory for me. To look good and to be able to face the world is also a form of resistance," she says.

From 1992 to 1995, the British-Iranian Amanpour—who has reported major crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, Israel, Somalia and Rwanda, amongst other conflict zones—was amongst the dedicated clutch of war correspondents who compelled the world to pay attention to the atrocities in Bosnia. She had many adventures herself: for one, an unexploded cannon shell fell into her hotel.

While U2 and Pavarotti's haunting rendition of the song 'Miss Sarajevo'— and Bill Carter’s documentary Miss Sarajevo (produced by Bono) about a beauty pageant held in the midst of war-torn Sarajevo—are lasting memories of the period, many would remember Amanpour's daily reportage in her trademark olive-green parka. Over a phone interview from the CNN office in London, Amanpour spoke to Vogue about travelling for pleasure, keeping up appearances and making war zones home. Edited excerpts:

As someone who has travelled extensively for work to conflict zones, what does travelling for pleasure mean to you?

Travelling for pleasure complements all the travel I do for war and crisis. You see the world in a different way, you focus on different aspects of the country. Interestingly, I've never travelled to India for pleasure. I've only travelled for work… the last time was about seven years ago to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. So, in my head, when I think about my next vacation, I really want it to be India. And I don't just want to go to New Delhi or visit the Taj Mahal; I want to see as much as I possibly can, from the beautiful beaches in Kerala all the way up to Rajasthan. I also want to visit the erstwhile princely kingdoms. I like to try and round-off my view of a country so that I don't only see the problems and the challenges but also the fantastical aspects of its cultural life, geography and wildlife. I'm big on Indian food: tandoori, naan, saag, the prawn, chicken and lamb curries, the yoghurt sauces (there's a Persian dish that's very similar to raita).

In a 2010 New York Times interview, when asked about the worst of war-zone living, you said it was "frivolously trying to keep a sense of personal dignity amid massive deprivation". What was your one indulgence while in a war zone?

I've been in the worst of the famine zones in Somalia in the '90s. I've lived in terrible conditions during the genocide in Rwanda. And for years, I've reported on the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. It's very important as a human being to try and maintain your personal faith and dignity amid diffi cult circumstances. I've watched people try and keep clean, try and find some clean water to wash their face, their clothes. I've watched them try to maintain a sense of humanity; to do their best not to succumb to the forces that are trying to dehumanise them. Obviously, this is more important for those who are caught up in this, but it's equally important for me as a journalist. You have to make sure that even if you can't have a shower, you try to clean yourself with baby wipes, brush your teeth, wash your face. That you present yourself to the world in a way that you can be dignified and, as I say, look people in the eye.

Amanpour in the olive green parka she adopted as a uniform. Image: Brent Stirton/Getty Images for CNN

And the people of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War exemplified this…

Definitely, one of my most important lessons in this was during the siege in Sarajevo. It lasted for years and people, at the early stages, were literally forced to eat leaves and grass. There was a time they weren’t getting any food. It was incredible to watch them burn their furniture and books for heat during the winters; to watch the women—these were modern women—make time to go to the hairdresser.

Were you there when the famous beauty pageant was held?

Yes, I covered it. There were classical music concerts in basements, beauty pageants, plays. All of this despite the fact that every time you stepped outdoors you risked being shot. It's heart-wrenching when you watch people in distress struggle to do what are ordinary things for many, many people around the world.

How do you make your war zone living quarters homely? Do you have any rituals—family photos, clean bedspreads?

I don't, actually—because I try to live as close to the situation as possible without separating myself with a layer of imported luxuries. So no rituals except the pictures of my son, which are always with me wherever I go.